Wartime Atrocity Claims in 'Japan's Holocaust' Challenged by New Book from Japanese Experts

このページを日本語で読む

On March 16, the War Propaganda Study Group — a civilian volunteer group — held a study meeting in Tokyo. The group has been examining the American book Japan's Holocaust (Knox Press, 2024), which claims the former Imperial Japanese Army massacred 30 million people in the Asia-Pacific region during World War II.

Since August 2024, the group has convened eight sessions. It will publish its findings in a rebuttal book titled Debunking 'Japan's Holocaust': A Thorough Rebuttal (tentative title, Heart Publishing) in late June. An English version is also scheduled for release in the United States by the end of 2025.

Countering the Atrocity Narrative

Published in March 2024, Japan's Holocaust was authored by Bryan Mark Rigg, who presents himself as a historian. It alleges that the Japanese military committed "atrocities" across the Asia-Pacific between 1927 and 1945.

The upcoming rebuttal counters the resurgence of narratives that exaggerate Japanese military brutality and lack historical foundation. This is especially timely as the 80th anniversary of WWII's end approaches.

Contributions from around 20 scholars and experts from Japan and abroad are included in the rebuttal volume. Contributors include modern history researcher Hideo Tanaka, Bulgarian journalist Miroslav Marinov, journalist Miki Otaka, author Takuei Uyama, and Harvard University professor Dr J Mark Ramseyer.

On the final day of the study group, Nobukatsu Fujioka and Shiro Takahashi gave lectures. Fujioka is vice president of the Japan Society for History Textbook Reform. Takahashi is a specially appointed professor at Reitaku University.

*Professor Shiro Takahashi, Specially Appointed Professor at Reitaku University.*

Atomic Bombing Is the Real Holocaust

Fujioka explained that the term "holocaust" (referring to the genocide of Jews) is defined by three criteria: anti-Semitism, intentionality/organization, and scale. He argued that Japanese military actions during the war did not meet these criteria.

"There was no policy based on racial discrimination," he said. "The Japanese ideal was Hakko Ichiu — the world under one roof, treasuring all peoples. Not only was there no anti-Semitic ideology, Japan was a country that helped the Jews."

Fujioka cited the atomic bombings and the Tokyo Bombing as events that do meet the criteria for a holocaust. "Those were the real holocausts," he said. "Why doesn't Rigg include the atomic bombings and air raids as holocausts?"

He also asserted: "Compared to foreign armies, the Japanese military widely refrained from looting and assaults. It was known around the world as a highly disciplined force."

Misunderstanding Shinto and Bushido

Takahashi criticized Japan's Holocaust for claiming that Shinto and Bushido doctrines "instilled a sense of superiority in the Japanese and justified killing non-Japanese people for the slightest reason."

He argued that this interpretation was based on misunderstanding and prejudice. It conflates spiritual traditions with militarism, he said.

Regarding the book's portrayal of Emperor Showa as "indifferent to the suffering of conquered peoples and his own citizens," Takahashi also pushed back.

"Successive emperors have always put their people first and prayed for world peace," he said. "[Bryan Mark Rigg's] claim is nothing more than groundless war propaganda."

He also noted similarities between the sources cited in Japan's Holocaust and documents submitted by the Chinese government in 2015 to UNESCO's Memory of the World program concerning comfort women.

Takahashi expressed concern over how the comfort women issue is used to highlight alleged "inhuman brutality" by the Japanese. He pointed out that some books by Japanese scholars emphasize patterns of male aggression and domination without academic scrutiny.

These works, he argued, have had a profound international influence. They have also significantly shaped Japan's Holocaust.

Author: Shimpei Okuhara, The Sankei Shimbun

このページを日本語で読む